Matt Barton, associate professor and co-director of visual art, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Barton currently teaches three-dimensional art creation at UCCS. He received a bachelor's of fine arts form Montana State University and a master's in fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; the Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe; and the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh.

Corey Drieth, associate professor and co-director of visual art, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Drieth received undergraduate degrees in philosophy, comparative religious studies and studio art from Colorado State University and a master's in fine arts in 2004 from the University of North Carolina. Before joining UCCS, Drieth taught studio art classes at CSU, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia. His work has been exhibited throughout the country, including San Francisco, Chicago, Albuquerque, New Orleans, Washington D.C. and New York City.

Marina Eckler, instructor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Eckler studied letterpress printmaking and painting at San Francisco State University and earned a master's in fine arts from the Maine College of Art. Her work has been exhibited at the Harwood Museum in Taos, New Mexico, The Lab in San Francisco, the ICA Gallery in Portland, Maine, and the New York Art Book Fair. She is co-founder and director of Mountain Fold Books, a nonprofit bookstore for the arts, located in Colorado Springs. She currently teaches two-dimensional art and design.

Pauline Foss, senior instructor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Foss received a master's in fine arts from the Vermont College of Fine Art, a master's degree in art from Adams State College and bachelor's degree in art history from the University of California, Davis. She has received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Colorado Excellence in the Arts Fellowship in 2002 and 2003, and has exhibited her work nationally and regionally.

Abbey Hepner, instructor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Hepner investigates the ethical gray areas where humanity and technology collide, illuminating the use of health as a currency. She received degrees in art and psychology from the University of Utah and an master's degree from the University of New Mexico. She currently teaches photography.

Nikki Pike, instructor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Pike starts from the ideals of democracy and works with the following list to guide her artistic practice: making work in public, making the viewer the artist, removing herself as artist, making the art free, making work in collaboration and creating community partners. Pike often references universal necessities of all humans: food, shelter, water and love. Her approach often involves the employment of play.

Stacy Platt uses photography to speak about vulnerability, memory, loss and the practice of everyday life. Born an Air Force brat, she spent much of her formative years in Chattanooga, TN, and identifies with the south as her childhood home. She received her B.A. In Humanities from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and her M.F.A. In Photography from Columbia College of Art.

Claire Rau, senior instructor, Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Rau completed her graduate work at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and now teaches sculpture at UCCS. She is the recipient of several awards and residencies, continuing to build upon an extensive exhibition record in the U.S. and internationally. Rau is a founding member of The Front in New Orleans.